So much was set against the UTEP women's basketball team in its third-round WNIT game against Colorado Friday night.

Kayla Thornton hit the rarest of slumps, the Miners shot 34.5 percent as a team, Chrishauna Parker joined Thornton on the bench in first-half foul trouble, the team was without suspended second-leading scorer Jenzel Nash.

That's the list of what UTEP didn't have.

Here's what the Miners did have: an unbreakable will and a program-record 8,234 fans who simply wouldn't let them lose.

"A great win, a great crowd, I'm so proud of El Paso, I'm so proud of our players," coach Keitha Adams said after her team earned another chance to entertain that crowd, as the Miners will host Washington at 7 p.m. Monday with a trip to the semifinals on offer. "To have that atmosphere was what I've dreamed about and El Paso made it happen.

"I'm going to let the kids enjoy this moment."

Within minutes of the end of the game, the line at the UTEP Ticket Center for quarterfinal tickets stretched more than 100 yards long.

"The crowd was amazing," Colorado coach Linda Lappe said after her team made several late errors that seemed forced more by the crowd than UTEP. "Our players had such a great experience playing in front of that crowd. We don't play in front of full arenas very often.

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"They really made it difficult. They affected how we started and they came through in the end."

They saw the most unusual of games. Thornton had zero points in a first half where Parker played six minutes, yet the Miners still led 31-28 at the intermission. UTEP was just 8-of-26 from the field in the second half, but made its last 20 free throws and smashed one of the nation's best rebounding teams 43-26 on the boards. The Miners were 26-of-30 from the line, Colorado was 5-of-12.

Nash was suspended shortly before the game for disciplinary reasons and Adams said her status heading forward is unknown, seeming to indicate there is a chance she could return.

With the second-leading scorer out and the leading scorer Thornton struggling (she finished with 11 points), Kristine Vitola was huge, finishing with 22 that included 8-of-8 free-throw shooting. She had scored 21 in the first two games of this tournament and her Friday total was within one point of her season high.

Parker, meanwhile, bounced back with a big second period and finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds, keeping UTEP afloat in a key second half stretch when not much was falling.

"Beast, that's it," Parker said when asked to describe her play. "I was a beast. I knew their game plan, 'She's going to rebound.' But they couldn't stop me. Beast."

She had two assists, but one was the biggest of the game. With the Miners leading 58-54 with 1:05 left, Parker lobbed a perfect pass to Vitola for a lay-in and a six-point lead. When Colorado missed on the other end, Parker grabbed the rebound to send UTEP on its way.

"I see her, I just throw it up there and let her go get it," Parker said.

As for Vitola's big night, "they were so focused on Kayla, they've got to realize UTEP is about team ball," Vitola said. "They take someone away, someone else will step up. It was my day. Then Kayla was big in the second half."

UTEP switched to a 1-2-2 zone to get Thornton on the top of the defense, and she did have four steals. One of those she took coast-to-coast for a lay-up at the 2:47 mark that put the Miners ahead 56-52.

After Colorado answered, Sparkle Taylor drove into Colorado's trees and ran out of space. She threw the ball up off the rim, jumped up and grabbed her own miss and made the follow to put her team ahead 58-54 with 1:50 to play.

Colorado missed on the other end and the officials initially gave a dead-ball rebound to the Buffs, but reviewed it and overturned the call with 1:31 left. After tying the game 50-50 with 5:55 to go, Colorado missed six of their next eight attempts and had three of their 21 turnovers (UTEP had 20 giveaways).

That miss and review with 1:31 to play set up the Parker-to-Vitola pass that pushed the lead to six and sent the crowd into a frenzy that actually was its normal state in this game.

"It was a great crowd, when I came outside my eyes lit up," Vitola said. "That was the biggest crowd I've seen."

They hung around long enough to watch UTEP celebrate on the court, then a number of them sprinted out to the ticket center. An allotment of 100 free student tickets was gone as fast as they could be handed out.

"I'm on fire," Adams said.

Her team wasn't hot in the sense of making shots, just hot in terms of passion and that was enough to see them through to the quarterfinals.

Bret Bloomquist may be reached at 546-6359.

WHAT: UTEP (27-7) vs. Washington (20-13) in a quarterfinal WNIT game.

WHEN, WHERE: 7 p.m. Monday, Don Haskins Center.

TICKETS: $8 floor, $6 general admission, $4 UTEP students.

UP NEXT: Winner vs. South Dakota State or Indiana, Wednesday or Thursday.

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